For almost 30 years the guachacas have defended their principles: “to be humble, loving, and republican, Chilean all year round.” This criterion led them to create an event that celebrates the national idiosyncrasy and popular culture: the Great Guachaca Summit, which will have a new edition in 2026.
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The meeting is at Los Buenos Muchachos (Avenida Ricardo Cumming 1031), on September 5 and 6. There the people will be able to taste typical foods and drinks, there will also be dancing and a program that includes La Sonora Palacios, Los Viking’s 5, Los Santiaguinos, the Trío Inspiración, and DJ Pebre. Tickets can be obtained here through Puntoticket.
The party marks the return of the event after six years of hiatus. The couple reigns also return, after the exceptional 2020 edition, where the Great Summit – marked by the pandemic – had an extensive monarchy that gathered more than 60 kings led by the “Great Compipa” Doctor Ugarte.
This time, five men and six women are competing to renew popular sovereignty, the voting to choose the monarchs is through this link.
The nineties were years marked by the transition to democracy, economic growth, and a profound cultural change. Globalization brought new music, styles, and customs to the country.
It was in 1997 when the friends Dióscoro Rojas, Raúl Porto, and Andrés Meneses got tired of the creole customs being lost. The last straw came when they learned that the 1998 Summit of the Americas – which would gather the heads of state from the entire continent – would be held in Chile.
For some time the friends had been carrying anger against “the rich” and those who attacked “the essential elements of Chileanness,” like the panita. Dióscoro told this media that “at that time it came out that the panita had been removed from the CPI and they had put in the electric oven. When the panita with a little garlic, well ground, is good for the hangover. We were losing a national legend.”
In that scenario, talking in a capital restaurant, the friends decided to recover the term guachaca, which until then had a derogatory connotation, and make their own summit that would bring together the less prominent masses of society and rescue Chilean customs.
“We said ‘you know what, no more talk, we are going to make a Guachaca Summit. We are going to bring the best chefs to make us pork sandwich, potito, arrollado. We are going to play boleros and cuecas.’ But we had nothing,” said the “great guaripola.”
The friends wanted to hold the event in April 1998, the same month in which the Summit of the Americas would take place and in which the death of the folklorist Roberto Parra, promoter of guachaca jazz, was commemorated.
The idea was there, but the money was missing. They entrusted themselves to Fray Andresito, prince of the beggars, and began to make the first calls.
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The friends contacted the owners of the La Perrera shed in Parque de los Reyes, who charged them $50,000 for rent. The rest was contributed by “a guy who was a businessman and put everything in,” according to the chief guaripola.
On Saturday, April 25, 1998, La Perrera was the scene of the first Guachaca Summit. There was food, drinks, and patriotic decoration, but tables and chairs were missing. Supposedly, an acquaintance of the organizers had gotten them from some teachers. He had to transport them in a truck, for which he had received the payment of $50,000, but as the guachacas remember, the man “had lied.”
Despite the obstacle, Rojas, Porto, and Meneses went ahead and welcomed the 200 people who attended the event, which featured performances by Catalina Rojas and the Philharmonic of Cuecas, Andrés Pérez, Boris Quercia, Ximena Rivas, Álvaro Henríquez, the Regia Orchestra, and the Trío Inspiración.
That said, before the party, Dióscoro got on the stage – which was built with truck wheels – and sang the national anthem amid boos from some attendees. Then he made a toast “for those who have fallen toasting” and dedicated the first Great Guachaca Summit to Roberto Parra.
In that first successful edition, the Los Guachacas collective was born, faithful defenders of Chilean customs who continued promoting new editions of the Great Summit.
The media success was such that in 2002 the party found its frequent habitat at the Estación Mapocho. The following year the monarchy began, as a way to promote the popular event. The first queen was actress Patricia López and three years later the contest had its first king, the “great compipa” Felipe Camiroaga.
The Los Guachacas movement was consecrated within popular culture and achieved important milestones, such as preventing the La Piojera bar from being demolished to build a mall. It was after that event, in 2003, that the collective symbolically declared the chingana as a Monument of the Nation’s Feelings.
For several years Estación Mapocho was the scene of the Great Guachaca Summit, but the party had a hiatus, celebrating its last edition in 2019.
Then came the pandemic and a money problem. Dióscoro Rojas revealed that a producer who organized the meeting had kept part of the profits until the project went bankrupt.
Six years passed without a summit, but now the party returns in glory and majesty. This is what the organizers affirm, who already have everything ready to welcome the comrades.
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